


heartlines

by starlight_sugar



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-25 02:29:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9798491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_sugar/pseuds/starlight_sugar
Summary: Refuge is home. Ren doesn't want to leave.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is a work by a fan for fans, not affiliated with MaxFun or the McElroys.  
> Canon notes: Spoilers for The Eleventh Hour; theoretically takes place after The Suffering Game.  
> 

Two things happen when Refuge is open to the world again.

First, people leave. There aren’t many people in town who want to leave in the first place, but there’s a steady trickle of families and businesspeople going elsewhere. But secondly - and this is the one that catches Ren by surprise - people move in, build homes and businesses and make their place in Refuge.

“It’s a big canyon,” June says to Ren as they’re closing the bar one night. June is sweeping the floor, and Ren is cleaning glasses, and it’s the most peaceful that The Davy Lamp ever gets. “I know that people want to come here, but why? They could go anywhere.”

“There’s something special about Refuge,” Ren answers. “Plenty of people come here. You and I both came here from the outside.”

June pauses in her sweeping. “That’s different.”

“How?”

“I was brought here.” June turns away, and Ren feels guilty for an instant. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought up something so touchy. “And you came here from somewhere else.”

Ren can’t really argue with that. The Underdark wasn’t exactly a good place to grow up, but she found her way out to the light. Fought her way out, really, but even with all that June has seen, Ren’s not ready to go into that. “But everyone deserves the chance to settle down somewhere.”

“Yeah.” June starts sweeping again, a little more forcefully. “But why here?”

“Why not here?”

“Because it’s tiny, and our sheriff is a bird, and most of the people who live here have already died a few hundred times.”

“That part doesn’t bother me so much.”

“Which part?”

Ren considers that. “Any of it.”

“Really?”

“It’s not the worst place I’ve ever lived,” Ren reminds her. “And I understand why people want to come here. People want to be a part of what we have. We feel at home here.”

“You do,” June mutters.

Ren stares. “June, do you want to leave?”

“No.”

“June.”

“Maybe?” June sighs, turning her back to Ren. “It’s not like I’m going to pack up and leave, but there’s a whole world out there, and I was too young to remember living in it before the stranger brought us here. I want to explore.”

“That’s fair,” Ren says, and she means it.

June looks back at Ren gratefully. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Would you come with me?”

Ren bites her lip. She doesn’t know how to answer that with both truth and tact, but her face must be answer enough.

June’s face falls. “You wouldn’t?”

“I’ve already seen the world,” Ren says, as gently as she can. “I saw a lot of Faerun between the Underdark and here, and this is my favorite place that I’ve been. The people are good here, and good people are coming here.”

“Are they?”

“We’ll make sure they end up good. We’re not going to change, June.”

June grimaces. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” she answers, and goes back to sweeping.

#

Ren wouldn’t describe what’s happening to Refuge as gentrification, per se, but that might be as close to accurate as she can get. It’s not like the town’s values are changing radically, and Ren likes to think that they wouldn’t let that change happen, but the world moved on while they were in a bubble. Refuge is still a handful of years behind the rest of the world, in technology and all, and the changes are coming to them.

It doesn’t change business too much, which is… good, mostly. Ren gets better at cooking instead of just tending bar, and it turns out that June isn’t half bad with the customers. The two of them make a good team, and they get visitors pretty consistently. And it’s fine. Everything is fine.

It’s really easy to get tired of “fine,” Ren learns quickly.

June doesn’t leave, but Ren can see she wants to. June talks to every customer from out of town and asks about what it’s like, where they’re from, what’s different, what’s new. She’s almost an adult, and Ren knows she won’t stay forever, even if she wanted to. That girl always deserved more than what this town had to offer her.

Ren was never like that. She was always happy to settle in with a few dozen other people and make them happy. It’s better than the Underdark ever was, and she doesn’t feel stuck, but things feel slow. It happens sometimes, and she knows that change will come and change things, and she’s willing to wait.

Change, as it turns out, shows up riding a rainbow horse with two horns on a Friday afternoon. Ren’s in the back of the bar balancing the books, so she wouldn’t know what was going on if it weren’t for the way June suddenly shouts, “Taako!”

Ren stands up from behind her desk, banging her knee against the side in the process. “Shit!” she yelps, and immediately smooths her hair down. There’s no helping the knee, but she needs to look good for her hero.

She can hear Taako’s voice before she even makes it outside, just the way it was when he was in Refuge last year, and the Underdark before that. “Have you done something with your hair?”

“You haven’t seen me in a year,” June answers, and Ren has to stifle a laugh. “A lot more has changed than just my hair.”

“Teenagers,” Taako huffs. His eyes slide over to Ren, and his smile widens. He looks tired, a little more haggard than he did before, but he’s still holding his head high. “I don’t know how you deal with one all the time, they’re _nightmares._ ”

“She’s not so bad,” Ren says, and pulls Taako into a hug. He goes all stiff, like he wasn’t expecting it, but he relaxes before long, and Ren smiles. “How’ve you been?”

“Ren, my friend, I’ve had a really shitty few months, so I’m treating myself. And also you. How fast can you go get changed?”

Ren blinks. “Into what?”

“Something you can go out in. We both cook, and all chefs deserve fancy dinner made by somebody else.” Taako pauses. “And also a lot of wine.”

“I don’t know, The Davy Lamp-”

“I can watch it,” June says quickly.

Ren frowns. “June, you can’t serve alcohol.”

“Everybody here knows me, it’s not like they’ll mind. And you deserve a night off.”

“Hell yeah, you do,” Taako says. “Come on, let’s hit the road.”

Ren bites her lip. She hasn’t left The Davy Lamp on a business day since she opened it, but June has worked there for years, and she knows it’d be in good hands. “Give me ten minutes to change?”

“I only last an hour, yo,” says the majestic rainbow horse behind Taako.

Taako rolls his eyes. “Don’t listen to him, I have spell slots for days. Take your time, go get fancy, we’re gonna have a gooooood time.” He shimmies his hips, and Ren notices for the first time that he’s wearing a cocktail dress that’s significantly nicer than almost everything she owns.

“My hair’s going to be a mess,” she warns him, just in case.

“Wear a hat, it’ll be fine.”

“You have that one hat,” June adds, “the beret? You could do that.”

“Yeah?”

“Berets are very in right now,” Taako says reassuringly. “Go on, I wanna get wasted on fine wine and good pasta.”

Ren beams. “Yeah, that sounds like a good time.”

#

Taako offers his arm to Ren as they approach the restaurant. “You might as well get the full experience of being fancy,” he says decisively.

Ren’s idea of fancy is essentially The Davy Lamp, so she decides to take his word for it and loop her arm through his. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because if I spent one more minute with the fuckers I work with, I was going to kill something, and I thought this would be more fun,” he answers airily. He flicks a hand at the doors to the restaurant, which swing open. “Walk in like you’re a star.”

Ren decides, just for the purposes of the exercise, to pretend she’s Taako as she walks in. She’s never been a star, but she mimics his stride, and holds her head a little higher than normal. Taako bumps a hip against hers, and she can’t help but smile.

The hostess smiles at them as they approach, only for her jaw to drop. “Oh m-”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Taako says, “and yes, we would like outdoor seating.”

The hostess looks between the two of them, eyes widening. “This is- this is an honor!”

“You’ve got a celebrity in your midst,” Ren says, nudging Taako. He grins and nudges her back.

“Two master chefs in our restaurant in one night,” the hostess says, practically wringing her hands. “This is a truly exceptional- I’ll have to let the chef know, you understand, he’ll come out and talk to you-”

“Who’s the second chef?” Ren asks. She can’t help it; she’s sure it’s uncool or un-starlike, but if there’s someone else famous here, she might as well meet them.

“I’m the first, obviously,” Taako says. Ren nods her agreement.

The hostess looks confused, but she looks at Ren. “It’s- I’m sorry, you are Ren, aren’t you?”

For a second, Ren is sure that she misheard. She forces herself to blink, and then smile. “I am, yes, but how did you know that?”

“You run that tavern in the canyon?”

“That’s me.”

“The critics have the greatest things to say about you! I’ve never been, but I’d love to-” The hostess pauses and takes a deep breath. “Everyone says your place has fantastic food and atmosphere, that it’s a real gem out there in the middle of nowhere.”

“That’s very generous,” Ren says, because it’s unbelievably generous, “but this is Taako. You know, _Taako._ ”

“And you’re _Ren,_ ” the hostess answers. “I do need to go speak to the chef about your accommodations, would you mind waiting?”

Taako flaps a hand in the air. “Of course not, darling, take all the time you need.”

The hostess makes her exit, and Ren frowns. “How did she recognize me?”

“Do you really not know?”

Ren shakes her head, and Taako laughs. “You’re a star. You have food critics in and out of your place all the time, and there are a dozen odd reviews saying you’ve got one the best bar food your side of Rockport.”

“And that’s great,” Ren says. “But you’re- you’re an icon, how is that the same as me at all?”

“Do you still have that certificate?”

“Of course,” Ren says, indignant despite herself. “First and only graduate from your school of magic.”

“You’re the only person who ever learned from this icon. You’re one of a kind.” Taako slants a smile at her, a little sidelong, the most genuine smile he’s worn all night. “Refuge looks a lot different now, with all the outside junk leaking into it, but you’re leaking right back into the outside. People notice that.”

Ren looks away, a little shyly. She’s still not sure that she’d put herself on par with Taako - come on, it’s _Taako,_ the man who inspired her and countless others to pursue a career in the restaurant business - but he might have a point there. She’s more than happy to bring some of Refuge to the outside world.

“You really think so?” she says despite herself.

“Sure,” Taako answers. “I mean, yeah, I’ve been around longer, but you’re very popular right now. Might as well embrace it.”

Ren leans a little more comfortably against Taako as the hostess comes back out. “The chef has offered to make a custom meal for the both of you, with outside seating, of course. Follow me this way?”

“Of course,” Ren says. “Taako?”

“After you, Ren,” Taako says.

Ren laughs. “Ever the gentleman,” she says, just dryly enough that Taako snorts, and together they start after the hostess.

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi @pervincetosscobble on tumblr or @jazfiute on twitter, thanks for reading!


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